Honors Program

Since its founding in 1830, Capital University has been recognized for its strong tradition of academic excellence, whether through formal courses in the classroom, independent scholarship or service learning projects, internships, study away and study abroad opportunities. The Honors Program continues this tradition by providing challenging opportunities for enhanced learning and intellectual and personal growth.

Honors Program Mission Statement

The Capital University Honors Program supports the university’s mission of transforming lives through higher education by recruiting, challenging and supporting highly motivated and academically strong students. Through experiences both within and outside of the classroom, Honors Students develop and demonstrate intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, and the ability to contribute to the knowledge base in their discipline. Honors students complete the program prepared for professional and personal lives characterized by a commitment to lifelong learning and personal growth.

Honors Program Goals & Student Learning Outcomes

Honors students will develop a broad set of knowledge and skills that will allow them to be successful in their academic, vocational and personal lives. Students will contribute to the knowledge base in their discipline and further develop their love of learning.

Graduates of Capital’s Honors Program are expected to meet the following learning outcomes:

Intellectual curiosity - graduates will be able to demonstrate an appreciation for learning outside of the classroom.

Critical thinking - graduates will be able to evaluate problems, major issues, debates, or approaches appropriate to a discipline(s).

Knowledge creation - graduates will be able to synthesize complex information and meaningfully contribute to a discipline(s).

About the Honors Program

The Honors Program at Capital is integrated into the overall academic experience. Students in the Honors Program take Honors sections of First Year Seminar, General Education and major courses. All Honors courses include a high impact practice (e.g., community engagement, service learning, mentored research) tied to the content of the course. Honors courses include additional learning objectives and/or expected learning outcomes that are above what is expected in non-honors courses. Enrollment in Honors courses is limited to 20 students in order to foster active student engagement and interaction with the professor. All Honors students complete an Honors Capstone Experience within their major. In addition, Honors students have opportunities to engage in social, cultural and educational events as well as service learning projects. Most of these events are organized by Honors students themselves, working together with the Director of Honors and Undergraduate Scholarship.

Requirements for entering the program: The Honors Program is open to all traditional undergraduate students. To be considered for entry, students must complete an application and must have achieved an ACT composite of at least a 28 or a SAT of 1310 from the reading, writing and math scores or higher, or have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher from one or more semesters of full-time coursework at Capital. Students, whose ACT/SAT score or cumulative GPA is below the required level, may still apply to the program if they provide a letter of recommendation from a high school teacher (for incoming students) or a Capital professor (for current Capital students).

To stay in the program, students must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher. In order to remain in the Honors Program and to register for the fall semester of the junior year, students must have completed at least two honors courses or petition the Honors director with the plans to complete the Honors program.

Requirements for completing the Honors Program: Honors students must complete four Honors courses including an Honors section of First Year Seminar, Honors sections of General Education courses and up to one Honors course in their major (minimum of three credits). Honors students are required to participate in at least one immersive experience (e.g., study abroad/study away, internship, short-term service-learning travel) and are expected to complete a learning portfolio based on this experience. Students must also participate in at least 3 Honors Program co-curricular activities per year. Junior and senior level Honors students are expected to help plan and organize these activities. Finally, Honors students must complete an Honors Capstone Experience, which is divided into two parts: HONS 305, where students develop a capstone project proposal, and HONS 405, where students complete their capstone project, both under the guidance of a faculty advisor. It is preferred that these two courses are taken as a sequence during the student’s junior and/or senior year.

Honor Program Courses

All Honors students must take an Honors First Year Seminar in the fall of their first year.

All Honors courses, in addition to meeting the relevant General Education and departmental learning outcomes, include the following learning objectives:

Intellectual curiosity - graduates will be able to demonstrate an appreciation for learning outside of the classroom.

Critical thinking - graduates will be able to evaluate problems major issues, debates, or approaches appropriate to a discipline(s).

All honors courses (including department courses) also include a high impact practice (e.g., community engagement, service learning, mentored research) tied to the content of the course and the learning goal that students demonstrate an appreciation for learning outside of the classroom.